In households having an infant or very young child wearing disposable diapers, a diaper pail is usually placed in the bathroom or nursery for the receipt and disposal of soiled diapers.
One prior art construction of a diaper pail comprises a large garbage can-like container which receives a plastic bag. The bag is inserted into the interior of the container, with the upper portion thereof being folded over a top rim of the container to maintain the bag in engagement therewith. A cover member is attached to the container and is movable between a closed position in which the cover member is situated over the top rim of the container to cover the open end of the bag, and an open position in which the open end of the bag is uncovered and thereby enables the placement of a soiled diaper into the bag. A foot pedal is provided and coupled to the cover member to enable the cover member to be moved from the closed position to the open position by depressing the foot pedal.
Another prior art diaper pail is sold under the trademark “Diaper Genie”. Diaper pails of the Diaper Genie™ type are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,049 (Richards et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,512 (Richards et al.), U.S. Pat. No. U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,200 (Jacoby et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,890 (Firth) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,240 (Jacoby et al.).
The diaper pails shown in these patents generally comprise a container formed with an internal ring-shaped flange. A tubular core or cartridge rests on the flange and houses a continuous length of flexible, substantially non-resilient plastic tubing. A twist rim is rotatably coupled to the cartridge such that rotation of the twist rim causes twisting of the tubing. Means are provided to hold a diaper stationary when the twist rim rotates to twist the tubing and seal an end of the diaper to form a twisted closure. A cover is removably attached to the container and includes a lid. To prepare the diaper pail for use, the cover is removed, an end of the tubing is removed from the cartridge and pulled upward and tied into a knot. The knotted end is then placed into the container over an annular flange to form a waste insertion reservoir or chamber bounded by the tubing. The cover is re-attached to the container and the diaper pail is ready for use. In use, a soiled diaper is inserted into the waste insertion reservoir bounded by the tubing and the twist rim is then manually rotated as the diaper is held stationary to cause the diaper to be encapsulated in the tubing by the formation of a twist in the tubing above the diaper. Rotation of the twist rim also causes an additional amount of tubing to be removed from the cartridge and be pushed into the waste insertion reservoir to prepare it for a subsequent insertion of a diaper. The subsequent insertion of another diaper into the waste insertion reservoir causes the previously encapsulated diaper to pass into the hollow interior of the container. A series of connected, closed and encapsulated waste packages is created and the encapsulation process can be continued until the tubing is exhausted or the container is full. When the container is full but tubing remains, the uppermost package is severed above its upper twisted closure, the severed end of the tubing is tied into a knot and an access door pivotally connected to the bottom end of the container is opened for the removal of the packages.
A major inconvenience of diaper pails of the “Diaper Genie”™ type is that it is necessary to manually tie both ends of the tubing to use the diaper pail. That is, initially, upon insertion of a new cartridge, an end of the tubing is removed from the cartridge and must be tied into a knot, the knotted end then being pushed into the container to form the waste insertion chamber. Thereafter, when the container is fall but tubing remains in the cartridge, the tubing is severed at a location above the upper twisted closure of the uppermost encapsulated waste package and the severed end of the tubing must be tied into a knot to prevent the series of waste packages from unwinding. The free end of the tubing remaining in the cartridge is again tied into a knot and pushed into the container to enable another series of encapsulated waste packages to be formed.
The necessary, multiple tyings of the tubing is bothersome and moreover, when the knots are not made sufficiently strong, unpleasant odors emanating from the waste packages can escape through the knots.
Another problem with diaper pails of the “Diaper Genie”™ type is that cutting the tubing is difficult and requires the use of a manually operable cutting instrument. This cutting instrument does not enable easy cutting of the tubing.
Yet another problem with diaper pails of the “Diaper Genie”™ type is that the series of waste packages are removed from the diaper pail through an access door pivotally connected to the bottom end of the container. The series of waste packages has been found to be difficult to handle during transfer to a waste receptacle such as a trash bag. Cleaning of the device is also difficult.
Still another problem with known diaper pails and other waste pails is that the person inserting a diaper or other waste material (such as medical waste) into the pail may not remember to rotate the twist rim after insertion of a soiled diaper or other waste. In this case, the waste is not encapsulated by the tubing and malodorous vapors or other potentially hazardous contaminants can escape from the pail. Although this would not prevent future use of the pail as the twist rim could be rotated before the next insertion of waste, it would likely result in the release of odors or other potentially hazardous contaminants. A waste pail which provides for automatic formation of a twist above a waste item after insertion of the waste into the pail is therefore desirable.
Another problem with known diaper and waste pails is that because the diaper or waste pail comes into contact with the series of waste packages, it is liable to become dirty and cleaning of the pail is cumbersome as the access door must be opened, the pail turned over and then the inside surfaces cleaned. A diaper or waste pail which affords easier cleaning for the surfaces which come into contact with the series of waste packages is therefore desirable.